Natural Science Collections Facility Forum Allison Ruiters 17-20 Oct 2017
Founded on July 23rd 1887 Open to the public 363 days a year Admission is free. Average of 145 000 visitors per year City Hall – galleries DNSM City Hall 2200 m 2 Research Centre – collections KwaZuzulwazi Satellite Museum “Go - Wild” Mobile Museum DNSM Research Centre 1350 m 2 - established 2005
Governance The DNSM is one of the smallest of South Africa’s natural science museums and is the only one that falls under local government – eThekwini Municipality.
Staffing Volunteers Total number of posts: 29 (Honoraria paid by eThekwini Municipality): 20-25 Permanent post filled: 21 Volunteers (Honoraria paid by DNSM trust): 2 Seconded staff (Librarian): 1
Summary of collections COLLECTION SUBCOLLECTIONS ACCESSIONED INVENTORIED DATABASED NUMBER RESEARCH Entomology Yes; various orders of insects YES YES YES 143,363 Ornithology Yes; study skin collection, egg collection, YES YES YES 39,198 wet collection Mammalogy Yes; dry collection and wet collection, small YES YES YES 15,118 mammals, large mammals ‘ORPHAN’ Palaeontology Yes; marine inverts & vertebrates YES YES YES 34,147 Malacology No YES YES YES 5,207 Herpetology Yes; dry collection and wet collection YES YES YES 3,208 Arachnids No YES YES YES 733 Ichthyology No YES YES YES 375 Echinoderms No YES YES YES 36 241,385
Main challenges • Poor web-based presence inaccessible information critical for improved service delivery • Human Resources – > orphan collections than actively managed research collections; reliant on honorary curators and volunteers
Main challenges No collections manager to support • research & technical staff • Supply chain management – Difficulties in procuring specialist equipment & consumables; Protracted tender process
ENTOMOLOGY CURATOR Kirstin Williams [2005 to present] TECHNICAL ASSISTANT Natasha Govender COLLECTION SIZE 143,363 1° GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE South / southern Africa NUMBER OF TYPES (incl. paratypes) 871 NUMBER OF SPP REPRESENTED BY 448 TYPES NUMBER OF SPECIES 12,806 IMPORTANT SUB-COLLECTIONS Migdoll and Zwart butterfly collections GROWTH (10 YEAR PERIOD) 2% OLDEST SPECIMEN Coleoptera [1897] VISITORS / LOANS PER ANNUM 6
ENTOMOLOGY Challenges Unidentified material [32,694 specimens] • Keeping up with taxonomic name changes • Mould due to humidity • Projects Updating Coleoptera names • Seasonal distributions of forensically important • Calliphorid blowflies Survey of the Durban Botanic Garden’s Butterfly Habitat • Garden
ORNITHOLOGY CURATOR David Allan [1996 to present] TECHNICAL ASSISTANT Mmatjie Mashao COLLECTION SIZE 39,198 1° GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE southern Africa NUMBER OF TYPES (incl. paratypes) 1 holotype, 166 subspp types +500 paratypes NUMBER OF SPP REPRESENTED BY 144 TYPES NUMBER OF SPECIES 646 IMPORTANT SUB-COLLECTIONS Ivor Browning, Bill Barnes & Alan Connell egg collections Bill Howells raptor study skins GROWTH (10 YEAR PERIOD) 2% OLDEST SPECIMEN Ostrich egg [1860] VISITORS / LOANS PER ANNUM 15 - 20
ORNITHOLOGY Challenges • The technical challenge of producing bird study skins of best-practice standard – it’s a tricky business! • Adequately controlling relative humidity in the Bird Room to acceptable museum standards. • Lack of adequate expertise in dealing with orphan conchology/shell collection.
ORNITHOLOGY Projects 1)Producing a catalogue of avian type specimens (largely subspecies holotypes and paratypes) in the Durban Natural Science Museum. 2) A review of all museum (Durban Natural Science Museum and elsewhere) specimen material of pelagic seabirds collected in KwaZulu-Natal as part of a larger review of these birds in KwaZulu- Natal waters .
MAMMALOGY CURATOR Leigh Richards [2010 to present] TECHNICAL ASSISTANT Zamawelase Mwelase COLLECTION SIZE 15,118 + 2100 KZN Museum specimens 1° GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE southern Africa NUMBER OF TYPES (incl. 5 holotypes paratypes) 31 paratypes NUMBER OF SPP REPRESENTED BY 6 TYPES NUMBER OF SPECIES 438 IMPORTANT SUB-COLLECTIONS West African bats, Southern African vlei rats GROWTH (10 YEAR PERIOD) 3.5% [150 - 500 accessions p.a.] OLDEST SPECIMEN Duck-billed platypus skin [1897] LOANS PER ANNUM 12 - 15
MAMMALOGY Challenges Staffing time dedicated to orphan • collections under care (i.e. internal audits, GRAP 103) [herpetology, ichthyology, palaeontology] Humidity and mould – particular • problem with flat skins Difficulties in purchasing specialist • equipment and consumables Building structural issues – leaking • slated tile roof
MAMMALOGY Projects 1) Review of the biogeography of small mammals in EKZNW PAs – surveys and collating specimen occurrence data [NSM field volunteer programme & MSc student project] 2) Surveys of mammalian assemblages of Eastern Cape forests – surveys and collating specimen occurrence data [FBIP large project & PhD student project] 3) Southern African and West African Bat diversity – cranial morphometry 4) Genetic and morphometric variation in Tadarida aegyptiaca (Chiroptera: Molossidae) across southern Africa [PhD student project] 5 & 6) Comparative phylogeography of Lemniscomys rosalia and associated ectoparasites from southern Africa & morphometric variation [Msc & BSC Hons student projects] 7) Phylogeography of South African aardwolf populations [BSc Hons project ]
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